The burdens of maternity: devising a demographic policy for late-renaissance Bologna

Bolognese confraternities of the late sixteenth century devised a series of charitable programs meant to make it easier for young people to marry and raise children. These included dowry savings plans, unemployment insurance, and maternity benefits. Catholic lay confraternities built their plans in part on the examples of Jewish confraternities, and their efforts at promoting mutual assistance were supported by civic authorities. Catholic clergy were more ambivalent, particularly when charitable programs were believed to take priority over cultic observances.